Royal Free London

The vanguard and the people it serves

The Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust believes that significant improvements in patient health outcomes and patient experience, as well as cost savings, can be achieved by creating hospital groups, which bring a number of hospitals together, connected by a single group centre.

It proposes to create a group of between 10 and 15 NHS trusts, serving around five million patients. Individual organisations will be able to join the group under a range of ‘membership options’, from full membership (where the member is fully owned) to ‘buddying’.

The Royal Free London is leading one of the 13 vanguards in the new care models programme designed to spread excellence in hospital services and management across different areas and organisations and explore radical new options for the future of hospitals across the NHS.

The population which is served by this vanguard will depend on which partners join the proposed group.

What is changing?

The trust wants to find ways to improve the quality of patient care while also reducing the cost to the healthcare economy as a whole.

They are considering various options including merging some office functions (such as human resources) as well as innovative new ways for clinicians to work together.

The trust is receiving financial and practical support from the new care models national team to develop this work.

Key benefits

Improved patient health

Increased efficiency and reduced costs

A more engaged and higher skilled workforce

Creation of a national template for this new way of working that can be adapted or replicated across the country